GreenSox

Trading a young pitcher off of the rotation for a 1 year rent looks exactly like a Hahn move. This is the same stuff that did in his last attempt at a build-up (that was a disaster). Hahn hasn't learned a thing, apparently. Signing a declining veteran isn't new to his menu either.

I figured if they could knowingly spend $8 million on Yonder Alonso, they might be able to at least hit 8 figures in a year in which they are trying to win.

You're right about that too; that's one area where they develop well.

Until I see otherwise, I am expecting a mid-range arm, with Bummer as closer and Crochet rushed into the pen.

You very well may be right about your evaluation of Dunning; he was a nice sell-high candidate (along with their young relievers, imo). But they simply didn't sell him high in this trade; especially with the lagniappe thrown in. Lynn's a 2/3; if the industry values Dunning as a 3/4, this isn't selling high.

Drake is free!

The point is that you can't buy all you need (too inconsistent and many age quickly) - you have to create them....if you don't, you will fail, as the Phillies and others have showed.

Yea it does. But closers don't need to be. Set up pitchers do. But the lack of Ks makes people think, in this era, that what he's done is luck. I could see them trading a young reliever; but they better get some real value for him. This is not 1 or 2 year window, unless they muck it up.

Engel has improved his bat in each of the last 2 seasons.

I guess that's it. And yet the Reds are peddling him. The Sox just don't have a deep enough farm, despite 5 years of high picks, to do these trades. They trade Cease and Stiever and get 1 injury and they're scrounging again. They don't have anyone to trade on the ML roster either; yea, they could trade Engel, but they could also use him in a nice RF platoon, and if he makes another step up, as he has the last 2 seasons, he's a ML regular. They need to use FA.

The Reds got Gray for a decent prospect and a comp round pick. And while he had a down year in NY, he was only a year removed from being an "ace" (well, he never really was, but that was the reputation). Now he's got this high price tag?

Maybe the Phillies' prospects weren't top end, but they plenty of talent on the field. Looks to me that it's as simple as pitching: their rotation is thin and the bullpen is bad. And as an aside, how would our pen have looked if the two rookies hadn't come out gangbusters? You can't go all-vet on a bullpen; those guys are too undependable. Sox aren't replete in pitching depth either, so don't mess with what we have.

Don't get the fascination. a) He's a a 6 inning pitcher; b) his numbers are good, not great; c) he's got the best defense in MLB behind him to boost up those numbers; d) Tampa is peddling him.

He earned it.

Dahl has always had really disparate Rocky Mountain splits. Is there a tangible reason why Dahl was so bad last year?

yes it would be.

And the prior year they spent $21 million on Nova, Jay and Alonso. And the $9 million on Alonso was a Machado attractor. If they can do that on a team that isn't winning, they can pony up for one of the big dogs for this window.

There seem to be plenty of Mazara-level guys available....

Sox always seem to be just below what it takes to get the guy they need. Regardless of the level of what it takes to get the guy. JR doesn't trust his FO is all I can think.

Fulmer had a violent, non-repeatable, delivery such that the chances of him backing up in the pros were very high. Everyone/team/scout knew that his delivery would have to be smoothed out for him to succeed. His upside was never worth the risk. Rodon, honestly, never seemed like he was all that interested being a major league pitcher. I hope things change for him elsewhere.

Lopez could probably be a good reliever. He's a lot cheaper, and better, than the next Cishek.

Last season, Engel was significantly better against righties than lefties (but he was still good against lefties); the prior year was the opposite (and he wasn't good against righties). Those are the only 2 years to really judge because it has been in those 2 years that he has made such a dramatic improvement on offense. Heck, he may become starter quality soon.

He's fine (if they can't get Springer) but they'll need to get him a platoon partner. And the nice thing about that is that now you have a bench bat, something that the Sox had last year with McCann, but have rarely had over the years.

They got 2 of those guys through rebuilding trades; Steiver is the only pitcher in the rotation or near-term prospect that they got from drafting, so I'm not so sure how easy it is for this organization. And you need some depth as well. Giolito, Keuchel, Cease, Dunning, Lopez (who probably should be in the pen), Steiver. The Sox need a solid starter, but they need one on top of those guys, not in lieu.

There should be no "all-in" years from where the Sox are now. Every year for the foreseeable future should be a playoff team, with a chance to win (unless they decide to resume their 2014-16 clown show). The Sox had a losing record against playoff teams last year...playoff teams that went 1-12 in the playoffs. The Sox aren't 1 or 2 players away from being WS favorites (which is darn well where you need to be if you are going "all in").